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Changing the Gun Industry

For over 25 years the Brady Center’s Legal Action Project has been the nation’s only law group fighting in the courts to prevent gun deaths and injuries. We reform the negligent and dangerous practices of the gun industry by representing victims of gun violence in high-impact lawsuits, including law enforcement officers shot in the line of duty, as well as children and families. We have won landmark precedents holding that gun companies can be held legally responsible for the damage caused by their irresponsible business practices. Our victories have forced gun dealers and manufacturers to reform their practices to prevent sales of guns to dangerous people, and sent a message to the bad-apple gun dealers that supply over half of guns traced to crime that they cannot get away with profiting from arming criminals and gun traffickers.

The Legal Action Project also works with public officials to defend gun laws that are under attack, and challenges laws and regulations that worsen the problem of gun violence. We have filed briefs or provided legal advice in hundreds of gun law cases, and won precedent-setting victories in high-level state and federal courts, including the U.S. Supreme Court.

A small but dangerous group of "bad apple" gun dealers are responsible for nearly 60% of the guns used in crime across the country. They put profit over safety, ignoring America's gun violence epidemic. Join us in taking on these "bad apples", sign the petition today!

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"Every decade there are more than a million victims of gun violence in America, but only a few take on the gun industry in court. Every case we bring is representative of the thousands that never get to court.” Jonathan Lowy

12 years ago, dedicated moms in New Jersey successfully fought for a law to help make childproof guns a reality. But the state ignored the law for over a decade. So we went to court to force them to issue reports that the law requires – and we won.

The Brady Center is engaged in ten lawsuits against gun sellers across the country for supplying guns to criminals and dangerous people. A case in Alaska and two cases in Wisconsin are heading to trial in 2015.

"Every decade there are more than a million victims of gun violence in America, but only a few take on the gun industry in court. Every case we bring is representative of the thousands that never get to court.” Jonathan Lowy

12 years ago, dedicated moms in New Jersey successfully fought for a law to help make childproof guns a reality. But the state ignored the law for over a decade. So we went to court to force them to issue reports that the law requires – and we won.

Just a few "bad apple gun dealers" supply most of the guns used in crime in America. We're taking a stand against them with a new campaign. Through protests and lawsuits, we will hold them accountable, stop the flow of guns to criminals, and make this a safer nation.

The next time you hear the corporate gun lobby try to obstruct the enactment of new common sense gun laws by claiming, “We just need to enforce the laws on the books,” remind them of what they did in Kansas.

A man convicted of lying on a federal gun purchase form argued that federal law allowed "straw purchases" - buying guns for others. Brady filed an amicus brief arguing that the law bars all straw purchases of guns. The Supreme Court agreed in a 5-4 vote.

Chicago Police Officer Thomas Wortham was shot and killed by gang members with a trafficked gun supplied by a Mississippi dealer. The Brady Center’s lawsuit for Wortham’s family led to a settlement in which the dealer agreed to reform its practices.

The City of Nelson, GA passed an ordinance requiring every home to have a gun. The Brady Center’s successful lawsuit arguing that the law was unconstitutional won a settlement in which the City voided the law and recognized a right not to own guns.

An NRA-backed Washington man sued Colorado for denying him a concealed carry permit. The Brady Center argued the case in federal court, helping the State win a ruling that the Second Amendment does not protect carrying loaded, hidden handguns.

The Brady Center is engaged in ten lawsuits against gun sellers across the country for supplying guns to criminals and dangerous people. A case in Alaska and two cases in Wisconsin are heading to trial in 2015.

When a person buys a gun on someone else’s behalf, it is a straw purchase. People that cannot pass a Brady background check or want to avoid a paper trail—particularly gun traffickers and other criminals - use straw purchasing to obtain guns illegally.

The guns used in crimes don't just "grow on trees" and criminals aren't manufacturing them in their basements. In reality, nearly all crime guns are purchased initially at a licensed dealer, and later diverted to the underground, illegal market.

A Pennsylvania dealer sold six guns to a straw purchaser. One was used by a felon to shoot and kill a police officer. The Brady Center and the Dechert law firm are representing the officer’s widow in a case against the dealer.

An Alaska dealer supplied a fugitive with a gun without a background check. Two days later the fugitive killed 26-year-old Simone Kim. The Brady Center won an appellate victory and is going to trial in a suit against the dealer for Simone’s family.

Two months after a top crime gun dealer supplied a felon with a gun through a straw purchase, the felon used the gun to shoot an Indianapolis police officer. The Brady Center represents the wounded officer in a lawsuit to hold the dealer accountable.

Brady has brought a lawsuit alleging that a Florida dealer armed a dangerously mentally ill teenager with a shotgun through a straw purchase. The buyer shot and killed his mother and her boyfriend weeks later; Brady represents the victims’ families.